Issaquah officers attend memorial Issaquah police officers gather with four of their squad cars Nov. 6 to take part in a procession of more than 1,000 police and fire vehicles from throughout the Pacific Northwest to honor slain Seattle police officer Timothy Brenton. The memorial route began at the University of Washington and ended at Key Arena for a public service attended by more than 10,000 people. Brenton was shot and killed by the driver of a passing car while he was parked on a Seattle residential street working with a partner Oct. 31. A suspect was taken into custody Nov. 6. By Greg Farrar

In terms of tradition, few high school football programs in the state can match O’Dea, of Seattle. The Irish have ruled the Metro League for several years, and are a perennial top 10 team in the state. Read more

Crews will build a manmade wetland in Emily Darst Park next year to replace wetlands destroyed when teams break ground on the Interstate 90 Undercrossing and a pedestrian overpass on state Route 900. Read more

Kasen Williams, Skyline junior wide receiver, reaches for the ball with one hand and, after a little juggling, hauls in a Jake Heaps pass for a touchdown in the second quarter against Kentridge Nov. 6. By Christopher Huber

Skyline High School head football coach Mat Taylor stood on the field in the pouring rain Nov. 6 and seemed content after a relatively easy win. Reeling from its loss to Bothell in the KingCo 4A championship match, his team had just come off what he considered one of the best weeks of practice in his time at Skyline.

“The energy was unbelievable this week,” Taylor said. “Now we gotta go 2-0 in the next couple of weeks.”

In one of the wettest contests this fall, the Spartans showed resilience in their passing game and strength on the ground as they beat the Kentridge Chargers 42-0 at Skyline Stadium.

“Easily the best team we’ve ever played,” Kentridge defensive back and running back Austin Daniels said. Read more

This chimpanzee was among those in the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute at Central Washington University that talked using American Sign Language with Issaquah High School students. Courtesy Central Washington University

Issaquah High School students can talk to animals.
While they aren’t talking to horses and birds yet, like Dr. Doolittle, they have spoken to chimpanzees.

On Oct. 10, 43 Issaquah students had the opportunity to put their high school American Sign Language lessons to new use at the Central Washington University’s Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute project.

“I wanted them to see that sign isn’t just for humans and it’s not just for fun,” said ASL teacher Elizabeth Short. “It can be used every day for research and as a way to communicate with others. For the kids, this was a chance to see that real-life application.”

“It was so exciting,” junior Hanna Dingwall said. “We could say ‘hi’ and they would sign back.” Read more

Election Day is done, but the symbols remain: campaign signs planted by candidates and volunteers near busy intersections, along bustling streets and in front lawns from the Issaquah Highlands to Squak Mountain.

Several campaign signs remained uncollected the evening of Nov. 6 on West Sunset Way, and were still there Nov. 9. By Greg Farrar

Candidates realize residents tolerate the signs during campaign season, but after Election Day, the placards become visual pollution.

A few candidates mobilized volunteers to yank signs from the ground before midnight Election Day. City Council candidate Nathan Perea started uprooting his signs Election Day afternoon. Councilman-elect Tola Marts left a victory party and gathered his signs in the election night chill.

Perea said he empathized with residents tired of the signs. The compact campaign ads sprouted en masse during the summer.

“I appreciate the clutter being gone as soon as possible,” he said.

Perea blanketed Issaquah with distinctive green-and-orange signs emblazoned with a pine tree logo. In the end, however, Perea said the signs had little effect. Marts won the Position 7 council contest by a landslide.

Marnie Maraldo, a successful school board candidate, said she understood why the signs must come down soon after Election Day.

“I do sympathize with the public who has had to look at them since April or May,” she said.

Maraldo bested Wright Noel in the race for the school board Director District No. 2 seat.

The candidates’ cleanup effort means less work for city Code Compliance Officer Michele Forkner, who keeps a careful watch on campaign signs in the months before Election Day. Forkner did not receive any complaints from residents about the signs. Just after the election, she said she hoped candidates and volunteers had cleaned up after themselves.

Besides City Council candidates, contenders for county executive and assessor posts, and even Sammamish City Council hopefuls, planted signs around Issaquah. Hotspots included the cluttered intersections at either end of Northwest Gilman Boulevard: Front Street North and state Route 900.

Forkner said volunteers or residents usually pluck signs for out-of-town candidates after the election wraps.

Although candidates would doubtless relish the opportunity to turn the Northwest Gilman Boulevard median into a thicket of campaign signs, city code prohibits signs there.

The state Department of Transportation also prohibits signs on state-owned rights of way.

City rules call for campaign signs to be removed within a week of the election. Forkner begins rounding up rogue signs after the deadline passes.

“I do not touch those signs until the eighth day,” she said.

Forkner seldom fines candidates whose signs linger too long after Election Day. Instead, she gathers leftover signs, and collects wooden stakes for future candidates and people who need the poles for signs to announce garage sales and other events. The signs themselves head to the landfill.

“Signs don’t talk back; they just lay there or stick in the ground,” Forkner said.

The medium is expensive. Perea dropped $1,095 on campaign signs; Marts spent $683. Maraldo — who planted signs across the school district, from Newcastle to Sammamish — paid $1,774 for signs.

Marts and campaign volunteers sprinkled 200 signs around Issaquah.

“I wound up putting out the right number of signs,” Marts said.

After the signs were deployed, candidates found ways to augment the placards to deliver more information to voters.

City Council President Maureen McCarry affixed sheets touting her endorsements to her campaign signs as she worked to defeat challenger Joan Probala in the Position 5 contest. McCarry won the race by a wide margin.

Marts said where candidates placed signs — and how many signs candidates placed in proximity to opponents’ signs — was the most antagonistic act in the otherwise cordial campaign.

“The sign wars were more aggressive than the forum wars were,” Marts said.

Triumphant candidates said leftover signs would be stowed in garages until the next election. Maraldo and Marts looked toward 2013, when candidates elected last week will face voters again.

Maraldo said the designer of her blue-and-white campaign signs said a simple sticker could be added to change the message from elect to re-elect.

Marts said reusing his signs — adorned with a mountain backdrop and a salmon silhouette — would be a money-saver when he runs for a second term.

“I plan on using those signs for my re-election campaign in four years,” he said.

Picture this — the extended family has gathered for a big get-together. The sun is shining; the kids are out of school for summer. Everyone’s having a grand time in the new outdoor living space and the accompanying landscaping is drawing rave reviews.

However, the above scenario could remain just a dream if the process to bring it to fruition isn’t started now.

Architect Dar Webb, of Darwin Webb Landscape Architects, said some homeowners wait too long before upgrading their house’s appeal and value with an outdoor project.

“If someone calls me in early April to have something ready by June 1 in time for summer, unless it’s something very simple, it’s too late,” Webb said. “Winter is a good time to start, more often than not, to have something usable by summer.” Read more

The Skyline High School girls swim and dive team, sparked by Andie Taylor’s two spectacular first places, captured the 4A Sea-King District championship Nov. 7 at the Juanita High School Aquatic Center. Read more